Saturday, December 27, 2008

Israel21c reports that Israeli scientists have succeeded in using stem cells to revere learning deficits in the offspring of pregnant mice who were exposed to heroin and the pesticide organophosphate. The article by Israel21c staff speculates that the findings could ultimately lead to significant breakthroughs in treating learning disorders.

Researchers, including Prof. Joseph Yanai and Prof. Tamir Ben-Hur of the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School and Prof. Ted Slotkin at Duke University in North Carolina, used direct neural stem cell transportation into the brains of the affected mice offspring with marked results:

The recovery was almost 100 percent, as proved in behavioral tests in which the treated animals improved to normal behavior and learning scores after the transplantation. On the molecular level, brain chemistry of the treated animals was also restored to normal. ...... The scientists found that before they die the neural stem cells succeed in inducing the host brain to produce large numbers of stem cells which repair the damage. These findings, which answered a major question in the stem cell research community, were published earlier this year in the leading journal, Molecular Psychiatry.

The abstract for the article can be viewed, and the article purchased at Molecular Psychiatry. The citation for the article is Molecular Psychiatry (2008) 13, 222–231; doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4002084; published online 18 September 2007.

Neither the Israel21c article nor the study abstract mention autism disorders specifically but they do refer to potential stem cell treatment generally of neural and behavioral birth defects and disorders.

101 Noteworthy Sites on Asperger's & Autism Spectrum Disorders

Facing Autism on Facebook

Why ABA For Autism?

The effectiveness of ABA-based intervention in ASDs has been well documented through 5 decades of research by using single-subject methodology21,25,27,28 and in controlled studies of comprehensive early intensive behavioral intervention programs in university and community settings.29–40 Children who receive early intensive behavioral treatment have been shown to make substantial, sustained gains in IQ, language, academic performance, and adaptive behavior as well as some measures of social behavior, and their outcomes have been significantly better than those of children in control groups.31–4American Academy of Pediatrics, Management of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

"We have to look also at environmental factors, and from my point of view, the interaction between the genetic factors and the environmental factors ... It looks like some shared environmental factors play a role in autism, and the study really points toward factors that are early in life that affect the development of the child"
Joachim Hallmayer, MD, associate professor of psychiatry at Stanford University in California

Even Out Environmental and Genetic Autism Research Funding

Right now, about 10 to 20 times more research dollars are spent on studies of the genetic causes of autism than on environmental ones.

We need to even out the funding.

Irva Hertz-Picciotto, UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute Researcher

My Autism Pledge For Conor

Today I pledge to continue;I Pledge to continue to fight for the availability of effective autism treatments;I Pledge to continue to fight for a real education for autistic children;I Pledge to continue to fight for decent residential care for autistic adults;I Pledge to continue to fight for a cure for autism;I Pledge to continue finding joy in my son but not in the autism disorder that restricts his life;Today, and every day, I Pledge to continue to hope for a better life for Conor and others with autism, through accommodation, care, respect, treatment, and some day, a cure;Today, and every day, I Pledge to continue to fight for the best possible life for Conor, my son with autistic disorder.

Dr. Jon Poling : Blinders Won’t Reduce Autism

"Fortunately, the ‘better diagnosis’ myth has been soundly debunked. ... only a smaller percentage of this staggering rise can be explained by means other than a true increase.

Because purely genetic diseases do not rise precipitously, the corollary to a true autism increase is clear — genes only load the gun and it is the environment that pulls the trigger. Autism is best redefined as an environmental disease with genetic susceptibilities."

We should be investing our research dollars into discovering environmental factors that we can change, not more poorly targeted genetic studies that offer no hope of early intervention. Pesticides, mercury, aluminum, several drugs, dietary factors, infectious agents and yes — vaccines — are all in the research agenda.